scholarly journals Neighborhood Social Predictors of Weight-related Measures in Underserved African-Americans in the PATH Trial

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler McDaniel ◽  
Dawn K. Wilson ◽  
Sandra M. Coulon ◽  
Gregory A. Hand ◽  
E. Rebekah Siceloff
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Vigorous Physical Activity ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
The United States ◽  
Multiple Regression Model ◽  
Ethnic Minority Groups ◽  
Social Predictors ◽  
African American Adults

<p class="Default"> </p><p>African Americans have the highest rate of obesity in the United States relative to other ethnic minority groups. Bioecologi­cal factors including neighborhood social and physical environmental variables may be important predictors of weight-related measures specifically body mass index (BMI) in African American adults. Baseline data from the Positive Action for Today’s Health (PATH) trial were collected from 417 African American adults. Overall a multiple regression model for BMI was significant, showing positive associations with average daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (B =-.21, <em>P</em>&lt;.01) and neighbor­hood social interaction (B =-.13, <em>P</em>&lt;.01). Consistent with previous literature, results show that neighborhood social interac­tion was associated with healthier BMI, highlighting it as a potential critical factor for future interventions in underserved, African American communities. <em>Ethn Dis. </em>2015; 25(4):405-412; doi:10.18865/ed.25.4.405</p>

Measurement Adequacy of Parenting and Children’s Functional Status in African American and Latino Families

2004 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina T. Wong ◽  
Anita L. Stewart ◽  
Steven E. Gregorich
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Functional Status ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Parent Behavior ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
Ethnic Minority Groups ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Functional Status Questionnaire ◽  
Acceptable Reliability

To examine the psychometric adequacy of two existing instruments, the Functional Status Questionnaire (FS IIR) and the Parent Behavior Checklist (PBC), in two ethnic minority groups. Age-specific items that were not relevant for children ages 1 to 5 were removed from the FS IIR and PBC. Measures were administered to 196 Latino and African American parents of children aged 1 to 5. Reliability, variability, item-convergence, and factor structure were examined. The results highlight common pitfalls in using existing measures in populations other than those on which they were originally developed. Both measures were modified resulting in all scales having low or acceptable reliability. Construct validity was supported for both the FS IIR and the PBC through confirmation of hypothesized relationships. In both ethnic groups, factor analyses supported the hypothesized factor solutions for the FS IIR and the PBC. Use of measures in minority groups requires researchers to be cognizant of the issues of psychometric adequacy in all groups. The psychometric properties of the FS IIR and the PBC were generally acceptable for Hispanics and African Americans, but each had some problems in at least one psychometric characteristic in one or both groups. Different factor loadings for some items for Hispanics and African Americans suggest different interpretation of items between the two cultural groups.

scholarly journals Housing Insecurity and the Emotional and Physical Health of African Americans

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 335-336
Author(s):  
Aarti Bhat ◽  
August Jenkins ◽  
David Almeida
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chronic Health Conditions ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Chronic Health ◽  
African American Adults ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Housing insecurity—or limited and/or unreliable access to quality housing— is a potent on-going stressor that can adversely impact individual well-being. This study extends previous research by investigating the impact of housing insecurity on both the emotional and physical health of aging African American adults using the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Refresher oversample of African Americans collected from 2012-2013 (N = 508; M age = 43.02; 57% women). Participants reported on their negative affect, number of chronic health conditions experienced in the last year, and experiences of housing insecurity since the 2008 recession (e.g., homelessness, threatened with foreclosure or eviction, lost home). Negative affect and chronic conditions, respectively, were regressed on housing insecurity, and the potential moderating effect of age was tested. Results showed that housing insecurity was associated with more negative affect (B = 0.05, SE = 0.03, p = .002) and chronic health conditions (B = 0.26, SE = 0.03, p &lt; .001). Additionally, the association between housing insecurity and negative affect was moderated by age (B = -0.11, SE = 0.00, p = .019), such that the effect of housing insecurity on negative affect was stronger for younger adults than for older adults. These results suggest that experiences of insecure housing leave African American adults vulnerable to compromised emotional and physical health, however, the negative effects of housing insecurity may attenuate with age.

scholarly journals Professional societies and African American engineering leaders: Paving pathways and empowering legacies

MRS Bulletin ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (9) ◽  
pp. 703-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine S. Grant ◽  
Tonya Peeples ◽  
Lynnette D. Madsen
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
The United States ◽  
Underrepresented Minority ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Howard University ◽  
Global Issue ◽  
The Us ◽  
And Mathematics

Diversity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is a global issue. The challenging issues facing the world relating to STEM diversity cross national borders and require leveraging the talents of diverse constituents.1Active international efforts at inclusive talent development are being undertaken to empower persons from groups historically underrepresented in STEM communities.2,3The US National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) reports that in the United States, African Americans are one of the most underrepresented minority groups in engineering relative to their population. This is in spite of a great deal of progress in “growing African American scientists, engineers, and technologists since the Howard University School of Engineering opened in 1910.”4The number of African Americans in engineering at all degree levels is not representative of their percentage in the US population. Table I shows a sampling of 2016 data from a National Science Foundation (NSF) survey of doctoral recipients in engineering.5Figure 1 illustrates a snapshot of African American representation in US colleges of engineering. These statistics show that African Americans remain underrepresented relative to US demographics.6–8

Religion, Race, and Humanism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony B. Pinn
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Richard Wright ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Unitarian Universalist ◽  
Racial Injustice ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lorraine Hansberry

This chapter explores the history of humanism within African American communities. It positions humanist thinking and humanism-inspired activism as a significant way in which people of African descent in the United States have addressed issues of racial injustice. Beginning with critiques of theism found within the blues, moving through developments such as the literature produced by Richard Wright, Lorraine Hansberry, and others, to political activists such as W. E. B. DuBois and A. Philip Randolph, to organized humanism in the form of African American involvement in the Unitarian Universalist Association, African Americans for Humanism, and so on, this chapter presents the historical and institutional development of African American humanism.

Promoting African American Activism: Experiences of Racism-Related Stress and Spirituality

2021 ◽  
pp. 009579842110349
Author(s):  
Tasha Prosper ◽  
George V. Gushue ◽  
Tina R. Lee
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Religious Orientation ◽  
Multiple Regression Model ◽  
Coping Resources ◽  
Spiritual Coping ◽  
African American Adults ◽  
Personal Impact ◽  
Related Stress ◽  
Race Related Stress ◽  
Shed Light

This study investigates how spirituality, psychological orientation to religion, and racism-related stress are associated with African American activism. Measures of Race-Related Stress, Quest Religious Orientation, Fundamentalism Religious Orientation, and Intrinsic Spirituality were used as exogenous variables. African American Activism was the endogenous variable. Results based on a sample of 148 self-identified African American adults revealed that quest religious orientation, intrinsic spirituality, and racism-related stress were positively associated with activism-related behaviors, while fundamentalist religious orientation was negatively but not significantly associated with activism-related behaviors. Paths of a multiple regression model were analyzed using Mplus version 8. Findings shed light on the interplay of spiritual coping resources and the personal impact of racism in mobilizing an activist response to oppression.

A Discussion of Ismail K. White and Chryl N. Laird’s Steadfast Democrats: How Social Forces Shape Black Political Behavior

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-210
Author(s):  
Michael Leo Owens
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Behavioral Norm ◽  
Black Political Behavior

Charge: As Ismail K. White and Chryl N. Laird note, collectively more than 80% of African Americans self-identify as Democrats according to surveys, and no Republican presidential candidate has won more than 13% of the Black vote since 1968. This is true despite the fact that at the individual level many African Americans are increasingly politically moderate and even conservative. Against this backdrop, what explains the enduring nature of African American support for the Democratic Party? In Steadfast Democrats: How Social Forces Shape Black Political Behavior, White and Laird answer this question by developing the concept of “racialized social constraint,” a unifying behavioral norm meant to empower African Americans as a group and developed through a shared history of struggle against oppression and for freedom and equality. White and Laird consider the historical development of this norm, how it is enforced, and its efficacy both in creating party loyalty and as a path to Black political power in the United States. On the cusp of perhaps the most consequential presidential election in American history, one for which African American turnout was crucial, we asked a range of leading political scientists to assess the relative strengths, weaknesses, and ramifications of this argument.

Racial Sentiment and Public Support for Arming Teachers with Guns in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 215336872110389
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Baranauskas
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Racial Issue ◽  
Racial Resentment ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Negative Feelings

In the effort to prevent school shootings in the United States, policies that aim to arm teachers with guns have received considerable attention. Recent research on public support for these policies finds that African Americans are substantially less likely to support them, indicating that support for arming teachers is a racial issue. Given the racialized nature of support for punitive crime policies in the United States, it is possible that racial sentiment shapes support for arming teachers as well. This study aims to determine the association between two types of racial sentiment—explicit negative feelings toward racial/ethnic minority groups and racial resentment—and support for arming teachers using a nationally representative data set. While explicit negative feelings toward African Americans and Hispanics are not associated with support for arming teachers, those with racial resentments are significantly more likely to support arming teachers. Racial resentment also weakens the effect of other variables found to be associated with support for arming teachers, including conservative ideology and economic pessimism. Implications for policy and research are discussed.

scholarly journals “Using History to Make Slavery History”: The African American Past and the Challenge of Contemporary Slavery

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
James B. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Specific Detail ◽  
Abolitionist Movement ◽  
Racist Ideology

This article argues that contemporary antislavery activism in the United States is programmatically undermined and ethically compromised unless it is firmly grounded in a deep understanding of the African American past. Far too frequently those who claim to be “the new abolitionists” evince no interest in what the original abolitionist movement might have to teach them and seem entirely detached from a U.S. history in which the mass, systematic enslavement of African Americans and its consequences are dominating themes. As a result contemporary antislavery activism too often marginalizes the struggle for racial justice in the United States and even indulges in racist ideology. In an effort to overcome these problems, this article seeks to demonstrate in specific detail how knowledge of the African American past can empower opposition to slavery as we encounter it today.

scholarly journals Book Review: History of African Americans: Exploring Diverse Roots

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 265
Author(s):  
Trent Shotwell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
American History ◽  
Social Life ◽  
African American History ◽  
The United States ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Rich

History of African Americans: Exploring Diverse Roots by Thomas J. Davis chronicles the remarkable past of African Americans from the earliest arrival of their ancestors to the election of President Barack Obama. This work was produced to recognize every triumph and tragedy that separates African Americans as a group from others in America. By distinguishing the rich and unique history of African Americans, History of African Americans: Exploring Diverse Roots provides an account of inspiration, courage, and progress. Each chapter details a significant piece of African American history, and the book includes numerous concise portraits of prominent African Americans and their contributions to progressing social life in the United States.

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